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Bruce Benson to retire as University of Colorado's longest-serving president in 6 decades

At CU's helm since 2008, former oilman to step down next summer

By Cassa Niedringhaus

Staff Writer

Posted:
07/18/2018 09:33:58 AM MDT

Updated:
07/19/2018 06:06:39 PM MDT

University of Colorado President Bruce Benson, right, and Todd Saliman, CU's financial chief, go over paperwork in Benson's Denver office on Feb. 27, 2014. Benson announced Wednesday that he will retire next summer after more than 10 years at the helm of the university. (Camera file photo)

Presidential tenure

A look at the tenures of the past eight University of Colorado presidents

1985-1990: F. Gordon Gee

1990-1991: William H. Baughn

1991-1995: Judith E. N. Albino

1995-2000: John C. Buechner

2000: Alexander Bracken

2000-2005: Elizabeth Hoffman

2005-2008: Hank Brown

2008-present: Bruce Benson

University of Colorado President Bruce Benson, a Republican oilman whose hiring was met with controversy 10 years ago, announced Wednesday that he plans to retire next summer, having gone on to become CU's longest-serving leader in more than six decades.

Benson, 80, has been at the helm of Colorado's largest university system since March 2008, and his retirement will be effective July 2019 — enough times, he said, to give the Board of Regents "ample time to find a successor who can continue the tremendous positive momentum at CU."

Benson touts the university's culture, enrollment, research funding and fundraising among his proudest achievements.

In an interview with the Daily Camera, he said he'd set a rough benchmark several years ago for his retirement, and the presidency has been an all-encompassing job.

"It's a whole different kind of place," Benson said, noting that he often works 10- to 12-hour days, seven days a week. "It's a tough job. It's a lot of work."

Critics highlighted his role as an oil and gas executive; his heavy involvement in Republican politics, including a 1994 run for governor; and his lack of experience in academia — including the fact that he only holds a bachelor's degree in geology, and earned no advanced degrees.

University of Colorado President Bruce Benson stands during a legislative breakfast meeting at CU's system headquarters in Denver on Feb. 27, 2014. Benson announced Wednesday that he will retire next summer after more than 10 years at the helm of the university. (Camera file photo)

The regents' party-line vote to name him the school's 22nd president was the first split vote on a presidential appointment in more than three decades.

Eventually, though, Benson brought stability to the president's office, and his tenure ultimately will be longer than many of his CU predecessors and peers around the country.

He cited the Boulder Faculty Assembly as an example. The faculty group voted 40-4 against a motion to support him as a finalist for president. He said he visited the assembly the month after he started, showed them his agenda and spoke with each member individually.

"I got an email from one of them the next day saying, 'Almost everybody in the room is happy,'" Benson said. "You work with people. You collaborate with them."

Bob Ferry, current chair of the Boulder Faculty Assembly, declined to comment on Benson's tenure through a CU spokesman.

Leonard Dinegar — who has served as chief of staff not only for Benson but also for his predecessors Hank Brown and Elizabeth Hoffman — said his staying power is one of the important markers of his presidency.

"When you have a revolving door of leadership changes, that's very difficult for the faculty and staff to get used to," Dinegar said.

He said Benson was able to provide consistency and implement a "culture of improvement" that will outlast him.

Kelly Fox, senior vice chancellor and chief financial officers on the Boulder campus, worked with Benson in the early years of his presidency and said he always encouraged his staffers to ask why they were doing things the way they were and to examine whether they could do it in a better way.

Dinegar said Benson, and Brown before him, were able to carry the university through crucial moments in its history.

Brown led CU through multiple national scandals — including a 2007 out-of-court settlement with two women who said the university fostered an environment that led to football players and recruits raping them at an off-campus party in 2001 — and Benson helmed the university through the global financial crisis.

University of Colorado President Bruce Benson gives a town hall speech on the Boulder campus on April 29, 2015. Benson announced Wednesday that he will retire next summer after more than 10 years at the helm of the university. (Camera file photo)

Both were able to improve the university's reputation and build trust with constituents and families, he said.

"Hank helped build that, and Bruce carried that on to an even higher level," Dinegar said.

Fundraiser in chief

Benson led the university through drastic cuts to higher education funding, he said, and he focused on where he could make cuts and improve efficiency to save the university money.

"Damn near the day I started, the Great Recession started," Benson said. "...We had to cut things. We had to clean things out. We had to be more efficient."

Under his leadership, CU set fundraising records and boosted enrollment. The four-campus system's budget more than doubled, from $2.2 billion to $4.5 billion. The university economic impact is now $8.3 billion, or $12.4 billion when affiliate hospitals are included, according to a CU news release. The university's endowment topped $1 billion, too.

Benson also reduced the number of university policies, which Fox said helped eliminate bureaucratic red tape and save CU money.

Benson touted the creation of the Center for Western Civilization, Thought and Policy, which he said helps support "diversity of thought" on the Boulder campus — something he'd like to more of in the university system.

"You've got to have a balance," he said. "We're not here to preach a doctrine one way or another to students."

The co-chairs of CU Boulder's Staff Council thanked Benson for his leadership and for advancing the needs of employees.

"His staff's work, in concert with the system and campus Staff Councils, on the parental leave policy is a great recent example of how staff and administration can work together to benefit our employee," co-chairs Jessica Gammey and Heather Martin said in a written statement. "We hope the next president will also continue to create a culture where employees are valued and proud of where they work."

Sue Sharkey, the chair of the Board of Regents, said in a written statement that Benson was one of the most effective presidents in university history.

"His passion for education, commitment to diversity of all kinds, business acumen and outstanding leadership have CU well-positioned for a bright future," wrote Sharkey, an elected Republican. "Bruce is a true friend and mentor in the art of leadership, not only to me, but also to many who have known him."

Boulder campus Chancellor Phil DiStefano praised Benson in a prepared statement, saying, "Bruce has helped our campus grow, gain more funding and be more recognized around the world."

Not without controversy

Despite his successes, his tenure was not without its own national scandals — chiefly that of the Boulder campus's botched handling of domestic violence allegations against a former football coach, Joe Tumpkin.

Benson also faced criticism after the shuttering of the Silver and Gold Record, a faculty newspaper that his office funded, and from those who said the university did not properly support students of color.

Overall, though, he said he won over critics and improved the university's culture.

"You've got to have respect for people," he said. "You've got to collaborate with people. You've got to have diversity of thought."

Colorado State University President Tony Frank said the two have a close personal friendship and commiserated with one another when their jobs became difficult.

"These are not simple jobs," he said. "They're complex."

Frank said that, when Benson started, the chief challenge facing him was likely the financial crisis, but that has since morphed into other challenges university presidents are grappling with across the country.

"I think the challenge has shifted to a whole series of issues that are harder to get your arms around in a dollar and cents figure," Frank said.

He highlighted two issues: how universities support student mental health and how universities facilitate debates about First Amendment rights.

Frank said CU's next president will have to be ready to respond to those, as well as increasing pressure on expanding research universities.

"There's a question of maintaining quality as well as maintaining access," he said. "That's not a trivial thing."

Search for the next president

CU's regents have been preparing for Benson's eventual retirement for several years. In recent months, they increased their preparations and drafted a three-page job description for his successor.

The regents have not yet indicated when the search process will begin, though CU spokesman Ken McConnellogue on Wednesdsay said they will meet as a full board in the coming months to finalize the details.

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